president gary johnson not having much luck as a republican so he's switching to the libertarian party. tonight at 10:00 the official mourning period for north korea's kim jong il begins. that's going to do it for me in washington d.c. thank you all for watching. natalie allen is next with more natalie allen is next with more "cnn newsroom." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com live in studio seven, i'm natalie allen. let's get you up to speak for wednesday, december 28th. if you're a republican running for president, iowa is the place to be today. the iowa caucuses juks six days away. the candidates are out in force as you can imagine. on the trail this hour, michele bachmann and newt gingrich. bachmann's 99 county bus tour is in creston iowa. she's competing for the social conservative vote. newt gingrich rallies his supporters in mason city. a recent poll shows gingrich, ron paul and mitt romney in a

virtual tie for the lead. what happened to newt gingrich nice guy? he vowed not to go negative in response to the other candidates' attack ads, but that didn't stop gingrich from blasting ron paul. in an interview with cnn's wolf blitzer he said he wouldn't vote for paul. gingrich pointed to incendiary newsletters distributed under paul's name in the '80s and '90s. >> you look at his newsletters and then you look at his ads, his ads are about as accurate as his newsletters. >> now if he were to get the republican nomination. >> he won't. >> let's say he were. could you vote for him? >> no. amateur video out of syria is said to show defectors trying to ambush security forces in daraa. cnn cannot independently confirm this claim. observers from the arab league are now in the country for a second day to determine if the government has kept its promise to stop the bloody crackdown on

its citizens. a league official tells cnn they have postponed trips to three cities today due to logistical reasons. tens of thousands of north koreans wailing and beating their chests fill the streets of pyongyang. a lincoln carried his coffin on the roof. another carried a giant portrait of him. analysts say the perfectly choreographed funeral signals a new era under his son, kim jong un. the trial of former egyptian president hosni mubarak continued today after several months of delay. the ailing 83-year-old entered the courtroom on a gurney. he is charged with corruption and murder for allegedly ordering the killing of protesters calling for an end to his 30-year-regime. court adjourned only after a few hours. it is set to resume on monday.

two women have been arrested for allegedly faking injuries from a deadly stage collapse at the indiana state fair. seven people were killed, dozens more injured when scaffolding fell out on the groud in august. thords say stephanie murray and sandra hern falsified hospital records to make it look like they were injured. both face felony charges of forgery, perjury and attempted theft. a california man is accused of shooting and paralyzing an afghanistan war veteran during the soldier's homecoming party. 19 year old ruben ray jerado is charged with attempted murder. the soldier was shot in the neck on friday. authorities say they had been arguing about football. sullivan received a purple heart after surviving a suicide bombing attack in afghanistan last year. if you see a mother nursing

her baby in your local target, leave her alone. she's protesting. mothers are holding more than 100 so-called nurse-ins today in 35 states. the nurse-ins were organizedn support of a woman who says she was harassed by employees at a houston target store for breast feeding. >> i had this big blanket, this big one, over me. they all came and started like walking by and shaking their head like, you know, rolling their eyes, shaking their head, no, no, like i'm doing something so horrible. imfeeding my baby here. >> target released a statement saying, guests who choose to breast feed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable. the clock is ticking and the stakes are high for the republican candidates in the iowa caucuses. some of the gop hopefuls are lowering their expectations and

talking about what happens if they don't do well. let's bring in cnn political director mark preston in des moines. mark, the caucuses just six days away. could this be a make or break contest for some of the candidates? >>. >> reporter: well, natalie, it very well could be the end of the line for some of the candidates now. seven republicans running for the gop nomination. six of them campaigning here in iowa. if they don't -- for many of them, if they don't come in the top four, it could be the end of the line. specifically though for newt gingrich, who's been the front-runner for most of the month of december, has been slipping in the polls right now. the odds for him or at least the expectations are that he probably needs to come in the top three, and the reason being is that newt gingrich has come under a lot of criticism from all sides. that's why we've seen his poll numbers erode over the past week or so. also, he needs to show that he can appeal to social conservative voters who are not only very important here in iowa

but they'll also be very important in south carolina which will hold the primary in late january, natalie. >> sepeaking of the social vote they're all going after the social vote. santorum says he will if pack up and go home if he comes in last. what about bachmann and perry. can they survive if they don't do well in iowa? >> well, for rick santorum who we've seen him come on, i don't want to use the word surge, but we've seen his numbers tick up, the excitement for rick santorum's campaign a little bit more in the past couple weeks than we've seen all year. if he does come in last. if michele bachmann comes in last, if rick perry comes in last, then pretty much their campaign is over. but for these three, they need to place in the top four. unlike gingrich who needs to be in the top three, they need to place in the top four because nobody expects them to come in first, second or third. if they were to come in somewhere in that order, first, second, third, it would be a

major, major win for one of those candidates. if they come in the top four it means they live another day, and that other day would be new hampshire on january 10th, natalie. >> let's talk about ron paul, virtually tied for the lead. can he actually win and what does it mean if he does? >> he very well can win, and the reason being is ron paul has a very strong organization here in iowa, but it's an organization that is really built on enthusiasm from his supporters, natalie. these are folks who are very much think that ron paul has the answers when it comes to foreign policy. they agree with ron paul and they don't think that america should be involved in the wars in afghanistan and iraq. they also like his fiscal policy. they think that he is a straight shooter. ron paul could very well win the iowa caucuses. if he does that, though, it would become a major thorn in the side for the establishment republicans who find ron paul's brand of politics very, very frustrating. natalie? >> let's go back to gingrich for a moment. he had a pledge to stay

positive. many make that pledge at certain times. he did really go after mitt romney during his interview with wolf blitzer. >> reporter: he did. this just happened yesterday. newt gingrich, who has made a point of trying to stay above the fray, we've seen that all year. certainly in all of the nationally televised debates he would actually chastise the moderators if he thought that they were trying to get candidates to fight one another. however, just in this interview yesterday with our own wolf blitzer, he went right after mitt romney. in fact, let's listen to what he had to say, natalie. >> all i'd say, mitt, is if you want to run a negative cap pamg and attack people, at least be man enough to own it. that's your staff and that's your organization. those are your millionaire friends paying for t. let's be clear, i am willing to fight for real job creation with a real reagan kemp style job creation program. you are a moderate massachusetts republican who, in fact, is very timid about job creation.

let's get it on together and let's compare our two plans. >> reporter: and there you have newt gingrich just yesterday here in iowa. the bottom line is six days until the iowa caucuses and the real question on the table is can you stay positive? there's so much on the line. apparently newt gingrich is not going to stay positive. natalie? >> it will be an interesting six days down to the wire. mark preston for us live from iowa. thanks, mark. this reminder for you, tune in next week for the country's first vote in the presidential race. america's choice 2012, live coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night, january 3rd at 7:00 eastern right here. wolf blitzer is on the campaign trail in iowa. next hour he'll be on the bus with mitt romney. you can see his interview on "the situation room" beginning at 4:00 p.m. eastern. here's a rundown of some of the stories we are covering. the end of 2011 may mean the end to some of your favorite brands.

say it ain't so corn pops going away. more about that. a couple boating off the florida keys gets a big surprise. they witness a small plane crash into the ocean, but this story has a good ending. then a very so longy and windy holiday week for most of the country means big travel delays. also ahead tragedy for a dallas family. a mother and two children shot dead while on a bus to visit relatives in mexico. and investigators say they now know what sparked a christmas day fire which killed a family in connecticut.

they were once hot commodities, but not all product brands can stand the test of time apparently.

alison kosik has a look at some brands that could be going away next year. alison, hello. >> hi, natalie. this may seem nostalgic when you hear about this. i have three brands that look like they won be winning in the new year for sure. for one, my space. remember my space? it used to be the number one social network. it's hard to believe because then came facebook and of course facebook eclipsed everything else. today facebook has over 800 million users. my space, it has less than 25 million. it doesn't look like my space is going to make a comeback any time soon. it was sold to news corp for $580 million. news corp sold it off this year for $35 million. i would say say good-bye to my space. number two is american apparel. it could go the way of borders or filene's basement meaning retailers that went belly up. they posted seven straight quarterly losses. it lost over $28 million so far

this year. even the ceo is in trouble. he faces sexual harassment charges. online sales for this company may be its salvation. sales online were up 32% in november. one that you mentioned, natalie, kellogg's corn pops. yes, one of my favorites. the people who put together these ideas at 24/7 wall street, they've had corn pops in their cross hairs this year. you know what, weak sales and higher corn prices, those are the reasons that we may say bye-bye to these kellogg's corn pops. sales are down more than 12% in 2007. who can forget the fact that it maybe is not the healthiest of all cereals. they did tell us, natalie, that corn pops are here to stay. this will be one to watch next year. i'd like to see them stay. i still enjoy them, even if they get all mushy in the milk. they're still good. >> you have to go fast once you pour the milk. as long as they don't mess with my frosted flakes. >> i don't think they'll mess with those. >> thank you, alison.

see you soon. well, the predicted disappearance of corn pops. that got us all nostalgic for the things we loved. remember browsing the shelves at borders. that's sad. electronic readers have made the bookstore chain obsolete and it closed its doors this year. at its height the 40-year-old book chain had more than 1200 book stores and sales in the billions. speaking of change, that used to be everywhere, when we used to make it a blockbuster night. remember heading to the video store on friday, checking out the new releases section and finding some movies to rent for the week end and grabbing a big box of goobers to go. not too long ago those movies were on vhs tapes. so we were thinking, what are you nostalgic for? what products or stores are gone forever that you miss? we want to hear from you. think about it. you can post your thoughts on suzanne malveaux's facebook page. that's facebook.com/suzannecnn.

we will have some of your comments later this hour. checking some of the stories. our affiliates are covering across the country. flooding at a cemetery in st. francis vil, louise see an narks caused several coffins to watch up out of the ground. one was found in a nearby pond. another floated away into a stand of trees. inmates from the local jail put the caskets back in their original spots. a family dog saved a family from this mobile home fire in oklahoma city. the owners say he woke them up when the home started filling with smoke. the father rescued all five of his children but is hospitalized with severe burns this and on a respirator. boaters rescued three people in florida after their small plane nose dived into the ocean. amazingly, no one was hurt. a fisherman pulled the plane to shore. no word on what caused the crash. all fortunate there. there could be a rainy and windy trip for holiday travelers

hitting the roads in the north. reynolds wolf has a look at our forecast for us. reynolds. >> well, natalie, we have two issues that we're following now in terms of travel. one would be parts in the northeast due to snow. pacific northwest the issue will be a combination of rain, sleet and snow. in terms of flight delays, we have one big one popping up in newa newark. we have ground delays about 1.5 hours or so. we may see them add up in other places in the northeast. other places in new york, we're talking j.f.k., laguardia. we might see them added to the list in the afternoon. let's begin first and foremost with what is happening in the northeast. you have this big area of low pressure, couple front. all this pushing off to the east. what we're seeing is some wind that's spinning right over parts of lake eerie. that predominant wind that's coming across. you know water is in a constant state of evaporation. it's scooping up that moisture. we're seeing snow popping up near buffalo and back towards burlington. 30 seconds we'll show you what's happening towards the pacific northwest. i mentioned rain. we have it for you. take a look right along the

coast. along the i-5 corridor. the situation's all rain. however, when it goes up slope into the cascades we're seeing something altogether different. what we're seeing is a little bit of snow beginning to pop up in a couple of spots. that will add up i'd say over the next couple of days or so. keep in mind great news for the skiers, for the drivers not so much. wrapping it up we can expect plenty of sunshine for much of the central and southern planes. dallas going all the way up to 65 decrease. 51 in billings. atlanta with 51 and new york into the 40s. that is the latest on your forecast. natalie, let's send it back to you. >> i have a question for you. >> bring it on. >> are you old enough to remember the chimpanzee from the tarzan movies? >> what was his name. >> >> cheat at that. >> i remember cheat tows. >> you're not mourning like the rest of us? >> not so much. >> it's a sad day for the rest of us, chetah has died at the

ripe old age of 80. check out that blast from the past. he outlived his human co stars including tarzan. he played the comic relief in the tarzan films. he spent the rest of his years at a florida animal sanctuary. his care takers say he loved finger painting and liked to make people laugh. kissing. >> this is a family show. >> he died of kidney failure the day before christmas. what a life. >> yeah. it's amazing that he lived as long as he did because when you saw the shots of he and tarzan, it's amazing. looked like johnny almost dropped him a few times. swinging on a vine in a studio somewhere in hollywood. somehow he lived through that. >> had he a good life. >> yeah. looks like he had a heck of a time wearing the paper hat and getting a kiss from some trainer. >> who wouldn't have wanted to have starred in the tarzan movies. >> how much time do you have to answer that question? >> we're out of time. >> okay. we'll wrap it up. i'm getting out of here.

>> thanks so much. the streets of pyongyang filled with crying mourners today for the funeral of kim jong il. we will show you some amazing pictures right after this. more important to do. g he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do.

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teps tens of thousands of north koreans stood out in the freezing cold today for the funeral of kim jong il.s tens oh koreans stood out in the freezing cold today for the funeral of kim jong il. tens of koreans stood out in the freezing cold today for the funeral of kim jong il.tens of koreans stood out in the freezing cold today for the funeral of kim jong il. kim's coffin was carried on the top of a lincoln hearse. this is a sign to the world about north korea's future. >> reporter: walking alongside his father's coffin, the message could not be more clear.

kim jong un, the supreme leader, leading the funeral procession for his father, kim jong il, the dear leader. key military and political leaders surround him showing publicly at least kim jong il's wish for a smooth succession has been granted. the coffin preceded by a giant portrait of a smiling kim jong il was then driven through the snow-laidend streets of pyongyang. tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets. soldiers bowed their heads, their caps in hand. men and women alike wailed and beat their chests as the coffin passed them by. at one point rushing forward to get closer to the procession. well core re'graphed event filled with pomp and ceremony. adverse weather only adding to the occasion. the country's state-run news agency saying it reminds the

north korean people of the snowy day the leader was born. a thunderous military salute to send off their leader who ruled his people with an iron fist for 17 years, a man who developed a regime based on a cult of personality and terror. as kim jong un watched the final military parades of the day, the question being asked around the world is how closely will he follow in his father's footsteps. >> he has to basically make sure that all of the key places, all of the key forces will be loyal to him. number two, he's got to provide basic economic means to his citizens and, number three, he's got to reach out to the chinese and to the americans so that they have much more of a stable reliegsship with the outside world. those are very huge challenges for a young and still inexperienced leader. >> reporter: the assumption is that little will change in north korea in the short term while kim jong un works to consolidate power. but looking longer term,

anything is possible depending on which expert you speak to, from a power struggle within the elite to a provocative act to prove the new leader's strength to further negotiations with the outside world. paula hancocks, cnn, seoul. after several months of delay the trial of former egyptian president hosni mubarak resumed today under heavy security. but by mid afternoon court had already adjourned. montpelier ham med jamjoom was in cairo for us. he arrived in court on a gurney, mohammed. what was that about? >> reporter: well, natalie in each hearing that's taken place in this case, there haven't been all that many, the case started in the summer, mubarak has been wheeled into court on a gurney. this goes to the contention by the mubarak legal team that mubarak is not in good enough health to be tried. before the trial even commenced there were claims that he

possibly suffered a stroke or a heart attack. it was always very hard to try to confirm this. a lot of rumors here about his health, but what's interesting is that even though we've seen pictures of him repeatedly either being wheeled into the court or inside the court on that gurney, a lot of the people you speak with in egypt simply don't believe the claim that he's too sick to be tried. especially when it comes to the activists and the revolutionary crowd. they believe that's a distraction on the part of the mubarak legal team, that they're trying to gain sympathy. they are not giving any sympathy. they do believe that the former president should be tried. natalie? >> so a distraction, perhaps. so why did the trial end so early? when will it resume? >> reporter: well, today the judge ruled that even though it was adjourned, that it would resume on monday, but more important than that is that the judge, according to a lawyer who was in the court, said that the

trial would start having daily sessions. that's one of the key things. there's been so much concern that because there have been so many delays in this trial and because usually in the courtroom it is so chaotic, so many different claimants trying to attach different issues to this case, that how is it possibly going to proceed and get done in a timely fashion? we were told by an attorney in the court today that the judge said it will start having daily sessions. then we were told that mubarak's attorney said that he believes a verdict will be issued sooner than expected. >> cnn's mohammed jamjoom for us in cairo. it was the best of years and the worst of years. we'll take a look at the biggest news stories of 2011 from the japanese tsunami disaster to the occupy movement. the folks at 24/7 wall street.com have come up with their list of the worst product flops of 2011. what do you think made the list? well, in september netflix announced it was separating its online streaming service and its

dvds by mail. the dvd service was going to be called quitster. the move cost them 800,000 subscribers. also this year fiat introduced its new 500 car. the 12 foot long car was expected to give bmw's mini a run for its money. it has so far fizzled with disappointing sales. clothing company abercrombie & fitch got a lot of flak for its ashley pushup triangle. it was basically a padded pushup bikini top for kids. the company no longer offers that on its website. bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund

so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home.

happening now, we are keeping a close eye, of course, on iowa. you're seeing michele bachmann right now addressing voters in creston, iowa. she is on a 99 county campaign swing through the state with just six days to go and counting. as you know, the caucuses there began, and right now the race is pretty much anyone's guess. we continue to follow the candidates as they go throughout the state there in iowa. we'll let you know what she says a bit later on. here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on elsewhere. next, something we haven't heard much in 2011, optimism about the economy. then the search for answers after a texas family is gunned down during a holiday visit to mexico. and at 11:45 eastern presidential candidate rick perry makes an about face on a controversial conservative topic. the economic outlook for the

country may be a bit brighter, at least not as gloomy. in a survey by "cnn money" economists are a bit more optimistic than they were a few months ago. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange with more. what are the economists saying about the risk of another recession? >> natalie, in this survey that you're talking about of 20 top economists, they're dialing back their concerns about a new recession. in fact, they're putting their chances of another recession at 20%. believe it or not, that's better than what they were predicting two months ago when they gave it a 30% chance. things looking a little brighter. natalie? >> a little bit is better than the alternative. what are they saying about their expectations for economic growth in the new year? >> okay. so their consensus is actually for 3.3% economic growth in this current quarter that we're n. it's pretty optimistic considering if you look at what third quarter growth was like, it was 1.8%.

they predict 3.2% growth for all of next year. that's close to a healthy rate of growth that we've seen in quite a while. keep in mind that what's considered healthy or normal is 3, 3.5%. the first quarter of this year was a meager .4%. hopefully we'll see more improvement in the new year. >> what still are the areas of concern? >> that's really a good question because you look at the big weights that are really dragging on this economy. it's jobs and it's housing. on jobs expect the situation to continue getting better as it is, but also expect the pace of improvement to be really just painfully slow. our economists are predicting that 1.6 million jobs are going to be added next year. that's about 103,000 jobs added a month. that's still below what's needed to keep up with population growth. as for housing, don't expect that to get any better until at least 2013. of course you see how jobs and

housing are tied together. if people don't have a secure job they won't buy homes. with home prices continuing to sink, many people can't buy a home to accept a job in another town. so you see why jobs and housing are really so important to bring this economy back to strength again, back to good health. natalie? >> right. any time you see a sold sign on a for sale sign in front of someone's home, you did a little cheer. yeah, something is happening. >> you hope someone's going to buy it. >> alison kosik for us at the new york stock exchange. a tragic day for a texas family. two children saw their mother and sisters shot to death before their very eyes while riding a bus in veracruz mexico. we'll look where traveling is safe and not safe throughout the country. [ mujahid ] there was a little bit of trepidation,

not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪

three members of the tex texasfamily visiting relatives in mexico for christmas were shot and killed on a bus. two children who saw it happened to survive. we get the story from cnn's rafael romo. >> reporter: it was supposed to be a joyful holiday trip. a texas family traveling by bus in mexico to spend christmas with relatives. margaret snyder says her daughter-in-law, 39-year-old maria heartsell and her granddaughters, 19-year-old car la and 13-year-old christine in

a heartsell were traveling in mexico when their bus was attacked by gunmen. all three wrim were shot and killed. 10-year-old mike who witnessed the horrific scene told his grandmother what he saw. >> i turn around and then i come back and they shot her in the head with the gun. and they shot carla. he said he knew that his mom and carla was dead. >> reporter: a mexican army spokesman said the assailants killed a total of seven people on three different buses on the same day, including the texas family. >> i told her not to go to mexico. i told her not to go to mexico. i just kept repeating it. senseless. it was just senseless. >> reporter: violence in the state of veracruz where the fatal attack has happened has increased sharply as a result of a turf war being fought by two extremely violent mexican drug

cartels. military authorities said the same assailants killed a total of 11 people last thursday. ten were shot and another died in a grenade attack. five of the hitmen later died in a shootout with mexican armed forces the military spokesman said. mexican authorities are also investigating the violent death of another american citizen. 18-year-old alexis marrone from chicago was one of three men whose charred bodies were found in the trunk of a car in the mexican southern state. >> what a terrible story. so many violent stories coming out of mexico, rafael. we know there are areas that are safe. which areas are those? >> it's very important to keep things in perspective when you look at a story like this. you get the idea that violence is widespread and everywhere. it's mainly concentrated in five states in mexico, mostly along the border. let me show you this map. you see states like this, just south of texas.

veracruz along the gulf coast. guerrero. the state where cancun is located, perfectly state. states where purt ter view art at that is located are mainly safe. it's important to make a distinction. >> i'm sure a lot of people are in cancun this week. popular destination. where is the progress as far as the u.s./mexico cooperating and trying to beat down these drug cartels that are out of control? >> it depends what measure you use. two years ago the mexican government said our goal is to capture 37 of the most powerful drug lords in mexico. they have captured more than 20. if you look at the numbers of people who have died since 2006 when the current president took office, you're looking at a number of higher than 40,000. by that measure things don't look very good. it's going to really depend on the long term on what happens from here on, whether the

situation gets stabilized or not. another important piece of information that i have for you, natalie, is americans are still going to mexico. tourism, as a matter of fact, the number of americans traveling to mexico increased by 3% last year. it's a little over 20 million. so people are not really getting stared in spite of the situation. >> it is a dire situation. what a tragic story for that family there and those children. rafael romo, thank you. presidential candidate rick perry changes his stand on a crucial issue for social conservatives. abortion. we'll tell you perry's latest position on abortion ahead in our political ticker update. [ female announcer ] in the grip of arthritis, back, or back joint pain?

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when we heard predictions by wall street that kol log's corn pops will disappear from america's breakfast table next year, say it ain't so, we wanted to run to the cafeteria to grab a box or two. for our talk back question we asked what products that are no longer around are you no stol beginning for. mary writes, i miss betty crocker date-nut bars. i've almost duplicated the recipe, but not quite. still working on it. mike says, record stores. i worked at three. it was a great place to work and meet people from different walks of life. if you're young, we'll explain

later what a record store is. this gentleman writes, pin ball machines. console games don't come close to the thrill of real pinball. james says i miss tgif sitcoms on tv on friday night. when i hear the theme song to full house, family matters, etc., it brings a tear to my eye. my mother and i used to sit down every friday night and watch all of our favorite shows while we ate dinner together some of you mentioned s. and h. green stams and eight track tapes. keep the conversation going. we'll have more of your responses next hour. for the record, i saved my earth, wind and fire eight track for nostalgic reasons. what else might be going away after iowa? well, news from the campaign trail today. rick perry has some harsh words for president obama over troops returning from iraq. paul steinhauser is live from

des moines with just six days to go until the iowa caucuses. paul, what is perry's criticism of the president? >> reporter: perry is going after the president this morning, natalie. just a couple miles from here at the machine shed, a restaurant in suburban des moines. listen to the texas governor trying to jump start his campaign. used to be the front-runner, then he faded. trying to get back in the game. talking tough against the president when it comes to supporting the troops. remember, perry an air force vet. take a listen to what he said not too long ago. >> as a veteran, as the commander in chief of our forces in texas, some 20,000 young men and women who have been deployed multiple times who i have hae the opportunity and the great privilege to go visit in their teeters, welcomed them home, have sent them off with ceremonies, it really disturbs me that nearly after nine years of war in iraq the president

wouldn't welcome home our many heroes with a central parade in their honor. maybe it's because this war is unpopular with the democrats. i don't know. but, mr. president, our soldiers come first. and it comes before party politics. we need to welcome our soldiers home, give them that parade, give them that pat on the back. >> reporter: perry also, natalie, talking about abortion last night campaigning here in iowa. he says now he opposes abortion in all cases, including incest and rape. abortion not a huge topic with all-americans, but here in iowa with social conservative voters who are very predominant in the iowa republican caucuses, it is a big topic. >> rick santorum trying to rev up his voters.

>> reporter:'s out with a brand new radio spot that the campaign says is going to play on iowa air waves. rick perry, rick santorum, michele bachmann the coming woman from neighboring minnesota, really going after the social conservative voters. santorum's new radio spot touts the endorsements he's gotten from some top social conservative leaders in iowa. he says sarah palin, the former alaska governor has said some nice things about him, as rush limbaugh. both pretty influential. santorum up with that ad. we'll see if it generates any buzz here. six days to go. the candidates doing everything they can to get those undecided voters to come their way. >> they're expecting record turnout for the caucuses. paul steinhauser there for us. we have this just in to the "cnn newsroom." newt gingrich has arrived at his latest stop there in iowa. this is mason city. you can see he is there with his wife. we will hear from him a little bit later. wolf blitzer on the campaign trail in iowa.

in a few minutes he will be on the bus with mitt romney. you can see wolf's interview with romney today on "the situation room" beginning at 4:00 p.m. eastern. we're following them all. we're trying to kep up as it gets into high gear. well, they were the biggest news stories of 2011 from the occupy movement to the deadly tornadoes in the south. we'll show them to you. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g.

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from the japan tsunami disaster to the birth of the occupy movement, 2011 was in

many ways an unusual year. we take a look back now at the best and the worst. >> reporter: worst sur prisz anymore, the terrible earthquake that pounded japan japan and the devastating tsunami that followed. >> you couldn't even tell where the ground was. things were just piled up because the water had been carried and everything was bunched up in strange areas. >> reporter: as if that were not bad enough, the nuclear plant crisis that emerged in the disaster's wake kept the world holding its breath, fearing a complete meltdown. >> it was absolutely horrific what happened to the people of japan. what was encouraging was seeing how the world responded to it. >> one of the things i'm really impressed with is i'm still hearing people talk about the

japanese earthquake. i'm still seeing people doing fund-raisers for the japanese earthquake. >> and it is unbelievably inspiring and i think it's a huge testament to what people can do when they work together. >> this was a violent tornado. >> reporter: the resilience of people was tested a lot closer to home, too. worst weather. >> oh, man, there went the tree. >> reporter: the huge tornadoes that hit mississippi and alabama. >> those were monster storms. it was amazing to see that happen in the united states but it was also amazing to see how the communities pulled together. >> reporter: speaking of pulling together, time got it right. worldwide this was the year of the protest. er. and whether you like it or not, in the u.s., the movement of the year has to go to the occupy crowd. sure the name is not the best and we're not still certain what they want but we give them

credit sticking it out thick and thin, filling up parks, street corners, you name it. >> a lot of occupy parks, great use of space no, one hanging out there and it's a party and i'm thinking this is a great opportunity for businesses to spring up but that would kind of be very anti-occupy. you. >> move back! >> i think that it's really important for people to take very extreme measures to get people to wake up. >> we are the 99%! >> and that say preview of all the best, all the worst of 2011, airing saturday, new year's eve at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern. the mayor of stamford, connecticut, says this fire represented a terrible, terrible day for his city. when you hear what happened and how it happened, including the 911 calls, you'll know why.

we are now hearing the 911 calls as fire raced through a home in connecticut christmas morning. that fire killed five people, three children, three girls, and their grandparents, and all while a frantic mother tried to save them. here's deborah feyerick. as fire raced through the victorian home just before dawn christmas morning, neighbors frantically called 911. >> stamford, 911, what's the address? >> there's a huge fire right next to us.

the whole house is on fire. >> what is the address ma'am? >> we're at 2241 shippan avenue. it's the house next door. a major fire and there's three kids and a woman. >> reporter: trapped inside the stamford, connecticut, home, grarnd paren grandparents lomer and paula johnson, and their three granddaughters, 10-year-old lily and 7-year-old twins, grace and sarah. >> calling about a major, major fire with people in the house. >> we have the fire department on the way, ma'am. >> please, come quickly. >> reporter: the house was under renovation. it appears fireplace embers placed in an outdoor trash enclosure near the home ignited the blaze. mom, madonna badger, managed to climb out onto skcaffolding, frantically directing firefighters to the third floor where she said her children were sleeping. >> the crew pushed through two rooms unable to find the children. they were pushed back by the intense heat and flames. >> reporter: grabbing two of the frightened girls, family friend

michael borcena, seen here on his facebook page, reached the second floor. >> the heat drove him to get separated and it looked like one went back upstairs and another one was found with the grandmother. >> reporter: grandfather, lomar johnson had spent christmas eve playing santa at manhattan's saks fifth avenue. he managed to lead one of his granddaughters to the back of the house and climbed onto the roof, then died before he could pull her to safety. >> just inside of the window he came out of, we found one of the young children. i guess there were a pile of books, looks like she was placed on the books. >> reporter: the mother, a successful marketing executive, is said to be in shock. she was taken from the scene sobbing "my whole life is in that house." >> when you don't make that rescue that you failed, i don't think anybody wants to fail. >> investigators continue to search for answers but it appears that the home did not have smoke detectors or a fire alarm system. deborah feyerick, cnn, new york.

top of the hour, i'm natalie allen. let's get you up to speed. if you are a republican running for president, iowa would be the place to be today. the iowa caucuses are just six days away and the candidates as you can imagine are out in force. last hour michele bachmann's 99-county bus tour rolled into creston, iowa. bachmann is competing with rick perry and rick santorum for the social conservative vote and newt gingrich is rallying supporters in mason city. a recent poll shows gingrich, ron paul and mitt romney in a virtual tie for the lead. what happened to newt gingrich nice guy? he vowed not to go negative in response to the other candidates' attack adz, but that didn't stop gingrich from blasting ron poll. in an interview with cnn's wolf

blitzer, he said he wouldn't vote for ron paul. >> you look at his newsletters and then you look at 80s ads, his ads are about as accurate as his newsletters. >> if he were to get the republican nomination -- >> he won't. >> say he were, could you vote for him? >> no. [ gunfire ] amateur video out of syria, is said to show defectors trying to ambush security forces in daha. cnn cannot independently confirm the claim. arab monitors are in the country for the second day to determine if the government has stopped the bloody crackdown on citizens. they have postponed trips to three cities today due to logistical reasons. tens of thousands of north koreans wailing and beating their chests, filled the streets at pyongyang for the funeral of

kim jong-il. a lincoln carried kim's coffin on a roof, another carried a giant portrait of him. analysts say the perfectly choreographed funeral signals a new era in north korea under kim agency song, kim jong-un. two women have been arrested for allegedly faking injuries from a deadly stage collapse at the indiana state fair. seven people were killed. dozens more injured, when scaffolding fell on the crowd back in august. authorities say stephanie murray and sandra hearn falsified hospital records to make it look like they were injured. both face felony charges of forgery, perjury and attempted theft. if you see a mother nursing her baby in your local target, leave her alone. she's protesting. mothers are holding more than 100 so-called nurse-ins today in 35 states. the nurse-ins were ornized in

support of a woman who says she was harassed by employees at a houston target store for breast feeding. >> i had this big blanket, this big one. >> right. >> over me. they all came and started like walking by and shaking their head like, you know, rolling their eyes and shaking their head, no, no, like i'm doing something so horrible, i'm feeding my baby here. >> as for target, the store released a statement saying "guests who choose to breathfeed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable." back on the campaign trail, no more newt the nice guy. the republican presidential candidate is on the offensive, striking back in response to attack ads from his opponents. jim acosta is in mason city, iowa, where gingrich is campaigning now. are we seeing a return of a feistier gingrich? >> reporter: i think we're starting to see a return of newt

the fighter. we're ma mason city, iowa, inside the mall where newt gingrich you could say is shopping for votes. he's giving a speech behind me at this moment so i'm going to talk in slightly hushed tones. he told this crowd just a few moments ago that they're going to be seeing a lot of negative attack ads next week before the iowa caucuses and he'll be responding to those attacks in-kind. at the same time he said i'd like to have a positive campaign going forward but it's going to be a touchy balance for newt gingrich. he has been under attack as you know, from not only the mitt romney forces but ron paul and the former speaker gave the interview with wolf blitzer yesterday which he responded said he wouldn't vote for ron paul if he were the republican nominee for president, said to mitt romney, you know, look, if you're going to say these things about me behind my back, be a man and say them to my face. this is a return of newt gingrich the fighter and we'll see more of that over the next couple of days. another thing we're seeing a lot of from newt gingrich today, he has a bus parked outside today is the beginning of a bus tour he's taking across the state of iowa, hitting spencer, iowa, in

the northern part of the state later today and so this is definitely a sign that newt gingrich is ramping up big time in this state. >> so how are romney and paul responding to gingrich today, jim? >> well, it's interesting. mitt romney was asked about the comment that newt gingrich gave to cnn yesterday, where he said if mitt romney is going to be saying this stuff about my record behind my back, be a man and say it to my face. mitt romney said he would be happy to do that. i don't know if we'll ever see the two candidates passing in the next few days. also ron paul a tough new ad this morning returns to that accusation that newt gingrich in the words of this ad is "a seri hypocrite" and goes after mitt romney as a flip-flopper. you're going to see the polls come out from cnn and other news organizations over the coming days. we're going to see the effect of what the negative attacks between these campaigns really has on this race here in iowa, but it is certainly heating up, no question about it, natalie.

>> the six days to go, one would understand. jim acosta in mason city, following newt gingrich today, jim, thanks very much. wolf blitzer is on the campaign trail in iowa as well. in a few minutes he will be on the bus with mitt romney. you can see wolf's interview with romney today on "the situation room," that's beginning at 4:00 p.m. eastern. here's a rundown of some of the stories we are covering over the next hour. first saying good-bye to 2011 and to some name brands many of you may miss. we'll tell you about them. and an egyptian court rules on virginity tests performed on women protesters in tahrir square. then forced sterilizations performed on thousands of people in north carolina years ago, now they want payback. so the state of north carolina has said they're sorry. is that enough? >> no. and what do iowans want from the republican candidates? i will talk with the vice

president of the des moines register. also moon mysteries are unveiled from a new space probe back this weekend. let's listen to newt gingrich. he is addressing voters in mason city, iowa. >> we'll develop oil and gas. we'll develop shale oil and ethanol and next generation biodiesel. i think only denmark produces more electricity than iowa. we'll develop the different aspects, coal, nuclear power and solar but our goal would be to produce a surplus of american energy so in a crisis, you could wave at the middle east. my goal is to be able as president to never bow to a saudi king or walk arm and arm. i want to explain to the saudis, we don't need your oil and we're not going to tolerate your support of terrorism. [ applause ]

so let me say one last thing and then i'm going to throw it open to questions. i'm not here to ask you to be for me, because if you're for me, you're going to vote and go home and say you hope that i'll fix it. i don't think even the president of the united states can get this country back on the right track by themselves. i'm here to ask you to be with me. we need you to be with us the next eight years to stand side by side. we need you to remind the congress what we're trying to get done. we need you to remind the governor and the state legislature, the city council, the county commission, the school board. in addition, we need your help. if we do all the things we need to do to get america back on track, we're going to make mistakes, and when we make mistakes we need to have social media where you can say that ain't working. the world has changed. here is a better idea. because we together -- i don't think 537 elected officials can fix this, but i think 305 million americans can fix it

easily, but lastly, if we apply the tenth amendment, and we shrink government in washington, we have to grow citizenship in mason city. it's that straightforward and clearly, we have to be in a position where everybody understands that citizenship has to rise as bureaucracy shrinks, and so i will ask you to be with me. i'd love to have your help next week. i believe we can win the general election decisively and i will challenge the president to seven three-hour debates in a lincoln-douglas tradition with a time keeper and no moderator and i will concede in advance that he can use a teleprompter. after all, if you had to defend obama care, wouldn't you want to use a teleprompter? i think you have to be fair about this. i would love to have your help and i'd like to toss it open for questions if that's all right. yes, sir. >> given the recent instability -- okay, given the recent instability potential for instability in the korean

peninsula with kim jong-il's death, how would your position with regards to north korea be different than obama's? >> well i think first of all you need to rapidly finish developing a ballistic missile defense because you cannot afford any risk of a north korean nuclear missile reaching the united states, and so i think we have to actively defend ourselves. you need to rebuild our intelligence capabilities. it is amazing to me, chrwe met h 600,000 korean-americans in los angeles alone yet our intelligence of north korea is very limited and you have to have a much better understanding of what's going on up there. you want to avoid getting into a fight with -- this regime is going to be very shaky for a while because the son who is taking over is very young and it's a regime which values age so all of the old generals are going to be very suspicious of this very young, new leader and i think we should be careful about what we do, because what you don't want to it is you

don't want to cause them to react out of fear, but i think that we should constantly pressure them. i think our goal is ultimately to replace the dictatorship, but even the south koreans frankly, they waiver between whether they're more frightened of a north korean military or more frightened that north korea will collapse. the south koreans looked at how expensive it was for germany to absorb east germany and they know north korea would be vastly more expensive so it's a balancing act in the region. on balance we have to have a strong national defense and need a ballistic missile defense to make it impossible for the north koreans to attack us directly. [ applause ] yes, ma'am. >> mr. speaker, what do you perceive to be the role of the national government as we seek to improve our educational system in the country? >> very good question. i think we should dramatically shrink the department of education, eliminate the federal need to rate the education and the testing model which has everybody taught to the test. i'd return power to the states

but i'm going to meddle and think we ought to have a lot less power in the state department of education. i'd like to see us get back to where parents are the primary implementers of education and where parents talk to the local school board and parents and the local school board develop education, but i also say one other thing and again as president, you're both leader of the country and manager of the federal government so i can say things that are about america that we're not going to do out of washington. i think every state should readopt the idea that you need discipline in the classroom and that back when i was young, if you got in trouble with the teacher you got in trouble at home for having gotten in trouble with the teacher. we went through the cycle, parents said how can you say that to johnny or sally? i'm going to sue you. i think we have to say get serious. the reason they're called the teacher is they're supposed to be in charge and the reason you're called the student is you're supposed to learn from them. and we need to reassert discipline in the classroom if we're going to have any opportunity to have the kind of education we need in this

country. >> newt gingrich on the campaign trail there at a mall in mason city, iowa, tackling, among other things, alternative energy, education, north korea, taking a bit of a dig at the president's health care plan. so we'll continue to follow all the candidates as they stomp throughout the state of iowa, six days to go. we'll take a break. more news right after this. key.. and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price. here we are... [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. there you go. go national. go like a pro.

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products that once held a special place perhaps in our homes and our hearts may soon be going away. it's the end of another year, another era. alison kosik has a look at some brands that could be disappearing in 2012, one of them of course a sugary cereal, surely there are plenty other sugary cereals to choose from, alis alison. >> that's true but the first one that could be on shaky ground next year is "soap opera digest." the magazine has been around for 35 years by the way. two more long running soap operas got the axe this year, "all my children" and "one life

to live." only four soaps are on tv after january so it's no surprise that "soap opera digest" is under pressure, losing readers in droves. readership is down 14% this year. besides you can go online and get the spoilers that you want. the second one that's kind of on shaky ground, the more really one to watch in 2012 is american apparel. it could go the way of borders or filene's basement, retailers that went belly-up. the company posted seven straight quarterly losses. they've lost over $28 million this year. the ceo faced sexual harassment charges, he's even in trouble. online sales may be this company's salvation. american apparel sales online were up 32% in november. and kellogg's corn pops, folks at 24/7 wall street is the building.

rising corn prices and more expensive to make, sales are down 12% since 2007 and probably not the healthiest thing for breakfast. kellogg's did tell us, natalie, it is here to stay. i do want to mention two more definitely going away, saab, the swedish carmaker failed to find a buyer and continental airlines, its merger with united should be completed by the middle of next year. we'll know it as united airlines. natalie? >> from corn pops to an airline. we cover it all. even though we were nostalgic in the newsroom for corn pops we couldn't remember when we last had corn pops so maybe we'll all be okay without them in 2012. >> there'll be something else to take its place if it goes away. >> absolutely there's other stuff like that to eat. alison kosik, thank you. >> yes. so the predicted disappearance of corn pops got us all nostalgic for the things we used to love but now you just can't get anymore. remember browsing the shelves at

borders? nowadays electronic readers made the book store chain obsolete and closed its doors this year. that was sad. at its height the 40-year-old book chain had more than 1,200 stores and sales in the billions. speaking of chains that used to be everywhere, remember when we used to make it a blockbuster night? remember heading to the video store on a friday checking ougt t out the new releases section, picking up chocolate covered peanuts out the door? not too long ago the movies were on vhs tapes as well. what are you nostalgic for? what products or stores gone forever that you inis? post your thoughts on suzanne l suzannemalveax's facebook page. we look forward to seeing them. violence amid cries for help from people in syria. we're live with videos of brutal crackdowns on protesters there. [ male announcer ] the more you lose, the more you lose,

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arab league monitors are in syria for a second day to see if the government is ending its bloody crackdown, but have had to postpone trips today to three cities for logistical reasons. this video here is said to show syrian forces spraying water cannons at protesters in hama tuesday but cnn cannot independently confirm if it is how then tick. mohammed jamjoun joins us from cairo. what are you hearing?

>> reporter: natalie the activists are concerned that even though the arab league monitors are finally there, at least one of the flash points so far where the crackdown has been going on, they're not being given free reign by government minders to see what they need to see. we just have seen new videos that have emerged from opposition groups posted online. one is disturbing. we must warn our viewers it is disturbing, reports to show a 5-year-old child, the body of the child as it's being displayed inside a mosque for what a member of appears to be an arab league team that is investigating what's going on. people tried to explain what happened to the child to the person whoo appears to be a member of the arab league team. disturbing video. another video that's just emerged ahort while ago purports to show chaos and gunfire going on in homs today in the barbara neighborhood and

purports to show members of the arab league observation team that's there, you hear the gunfire, it seems chaotic, the camera then pans over to show what appears to be members of this arab league team, as they're taking pictures of what's going on. we must stress that we can't authenticate these videos but thee seem to be corroborated by accounts we're hearing from residents and activists on the ground there in neighborhoods like baba amr and homs. the neighbors and activists we've spoken with the past few days continue to tell us tales of horror. they say massacres have gbeen going on, dozens killed, hundreds wounded, as the arab league observers about they arrived and after they arrived, they've been there two days we're still hearing crackdowns are going on and people being killed. >> the arab league is there to monitor but they say they can't get anywhere for logistical reasons. you have to wonder how much good they can do if that's going to

be the situation. >> reporter: well, that's right. we must add also especially opposition figures in syria the past month, they've questioned just how effective this team could be. they've questioned the credibility of the arab league itself, and while people have said that it's good that the arab league is there, again, they wonder if they will be given unfettered access. members of the arab league we've spoken with say the observation team that's there will be given free reign to do what they want but we're hearing accounts they're being guided through cities with government minders, and it just begs the question, what exactly will they be able to do? how effective will they be able to do and will they be able to end this crackdown going on? >> those are the big questions for right now in syria, mohammed jamjoon following it for us, thank you. the trial for hosni mubarak

continued after several months of day. the 83-year-old entered the courtroom on a gurney. he's charged with corruption and murder for allegedly ordering the killing of protesters, calling for an end to his 30-year regime. court adjourned after only a few hours. it is set to resume on monday. a shameful chapter in american history decades after thousands of people were sterilized against their will, the victims want more than an apology. you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops.

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north carolina is still considering compensation it promised to people forced to undergo sterilization decades ago. thousands of people declared unfit to reproduce were operated on against their will.

elizabeth cohen reports the victims want more than an apology. >> at the time i couldn't do nothing about it. >> reporter: october 22nd, 1968, charles holt was 19 at the time, living in an institution for boys in butner, north carolina, when his life was drastically changed, without his consent. >> they sent me to rex hospital, and then they just pushed me into a room and just gave me a scent of gas, i went off to sleep and then when i woke up from it, i noticed something was wrong, and then they told me what they done, and i was, i wasn't a happy camper. >> reporter: what they had done was surgery, a vasectomy to make him sterile, but why?

it turns out the order came from the state which said he was feebleminded and unworthy of having children. >> i could have had a family, have some kids that i could call my own. it happened that way. >> reporter: charles holt wasn't alone. in fact his story is only one representing a shameful chapter in american history. from 1907 through the 1970s, more than 60,000 americans were sterilized because they had "unfit human traits." it was called eugenics. the goal, breed out those considered to be a burden on the rest of society and make "better human beings tomorrow." 33 states had eugenics programs at one time or another, supported by some of the

nation's most respected doctors and social workers. even the supreme court approved it. oliver wendell holmes wrote in a 1927 case "three generations of imbeciles are enough." a parent, anyone could ask to have someone sterilized. some victims were developmentally disabled living in institutions, records show others were living at home, forced to go under the surgeon's knife because they were paupers or because they were blind, death or had syphilis. you could be sterilized if you were sexually promise kus. >> paralyzed, not physical lly attracted. >> reporter: sharmane fuller cooper has uncovered the frightening past. >> the first time i actually had to read a eugenic board record of a case file i literally sat at my des ek and cried for about

15 minutes. >> reporter: her research shows about 7,600 people in north carolina were sterilized. procedures continued into the 1970s, while after many states had stopped. so it's estimated about 2,000 victims are still alive. in later years, the focus targeted women on welfare, many of whom were african-american. north carolina has become the only state to take steps to compensate victims. for nearly ten years, the state legislature has written reports, submitted bills, even heard testimony from victims. >> i wouldn't have mind having me a daughter. maybe two. maybe three. the state need to award us, because we got to carry on. >> reporter: but so far these victims have received nothing more than apologies from governor bev perdue. >> i just came here as a ma marx a grandmama and governor of the state quite frankly to tell you it was wrong. >> reporter: compensating victims could cost tens of millions of dollars during a

time of budget cuts. state legislators like representative ruth samuelsson are worried about money. >> do we compensate eugenics victims or put classroom teachers in place. we had to make choices. >> reporter: is it possible these victims will in the end walk away with nothing? >> that is a possibility if we don't have legislators who are willing to stand up for the victims. >> reporter: charles holt knows he may never see a dime. so the state of north carolina has said they're sorry. is that enough? >> no. >> reporter: what more do they need to do? >> i think they should give us some compensation off of it. >> reporter: 2012 could be the year the legislature acts. charles holt holds out hope for an award he says will fit the crime done to him more than four decades ago. what's horrible, this did this to person after person after person. >> yes, ma'am. it's just disgusting. >> reporter: elizabeth cohen,

cnn, linwood, north carolina. >> north carolina is the only state even considering compensating its victims. anderson cooper spoke with paul lom b lombardo and lariva martin. >> women were targeted and as we heard in the piece, african-americans disproportionately impacted in a negative way by this state action, and that's what's so galling about this. this isn't private individuals. this is every branch of government, state legislature, the executive branch and the judicial branch determining that certain individuals and those without a voice in our society were not worthy of having children. >> paul, this was happening in 33 states, including puerto rico. north carolina, are they the only ones even talking about compensation? >> well, as you showed in your

graphic, there were more than 30 states that actually had these laws but only seven of them recommended an apology, taken a position at all. there are still 20 some odd states that haven't even gone that far so the idea that the states will face this with compensation skips over the fact that many of them haven't even admitted that it happened. >> at least seven other states have issued formal apologies for similar eugenics programs. earlier this year, north carolina did consider offering $50,000 in compensation to victims, but legislators said that was too much. the number has since been reduced to $20,000. iowa voters are getting bombarded by candidates and campaign ads, but there's still no clear front-runner, just days before the voting begins. we will talk with an editor from the "des moines register" wiabo why the race is still up in the air. ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪

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here's a rundown of some of the stories we are working on. hawkeye voters are keeping a close eye on the republican presidential candidates. what they're focusing on, that's next. then shooting for the moon, what scientists hope to discover during a new year's navigation. and in just a few minutes, negative ads are nothing new, so what impact will they have on voters in iowa? we'll look at that. iowa voters are seeing a lot of the republican presidential

candidates in person and on tv, but just six days before the iowa caucuses, there's no clear front-runner. joining us to talk about that, rick green, he's editor and vice president of news at "the des moines register." rick thank you for joining us. >> good afternoon, natalie. good to see you. how are you? >> i'm good. i'm managing you're not letting too many take off for the holidays because you're busy in iowa keeping up with the candidates. first of all, are you surprised that the race is still this unsettled, so close to the caucuses? >> you know, about i iowa standards this is highly unusual. by now i think a front-runner in previous races has emerged, and folks are trying to coalesce around that candidate. that's not the case this year. this cycle we've seen a lot of uncertainty, a lot of different stars have jumped up on the stage and right now, i think it's going to be a very close neck in neck in neck race between three candidates we

think. the thing that's interesting right now that's going on in iowa that i think is different than in previous cycles is that there's currently a sense that there's blood in the water. you've got a perception that a very vulnerable incumbent president, iowans are working incredibly hard to try to make sure this they make the right choice. i think that's what we're seeing right now during this cycle. >> so that being said, why do you think the voters are still so undecided on rallying behind one person, that they think they could perhaps unseat this president and what are they wanting to hear from the candidates? >> well you mentioned it just a second ago, despite the fact we've had a record number of deba debates, despite cnn, fox, msnbc, "the des moines register" so many media outlets have given a lot of coverage to the cycle, a lot of iowans have not had a chance to spend quality time in their living rooms, back yards and coffee houses in the mornings.

most candidates with the exception of rick santorum who has hit all 99 counties in the campaign, have been relying on different means. this cycle folks are trying hard as late in the game as it is to get to understand who are the candidates, what's their vision for america, what's their platform, what are their issues and who is best april able to topple barack obama come next november. that's the issue i hear throughout iowa and with our readers. there's an opportunity to take back the white house. who best could do it >> they'll have six days to be with the candidates who i imagine won't be leaving the state. i want to talk about the negative ads you're seeing. how are the nice folks in iowa reacting to them? we hear they don't typically like negative ads. >> you touched on it. there's a perception of an iowa nice mentality, focus more on the individuals, talk about their visions for america as opposed to negative advertising.

this year we have a $10 million advertising blitz that's gone on and i think you're starting to see the side effects, the consequences in the polls. for example newt gingrich, a month ago was riding high. there's been a huge blitz of negative advertising raised questions about his candidacy, about which newt gingrich we're going to see, if he wins iowa and potentially be the potential republican nominee. it's had an effect, which has been surprising for us, despite the fact that speaker of the house gingrich said that he was going to go with a very positive campaign. we're seeing him take the gloves off the past two or three days and i can guarantee you from everything we've heard from the candidates, from their camps and from operative, the next six days out here, it's going to be complete barrage and tsunami wave of advertising and for the most part it's going to be mostly negative. >> we'll be watching it. we appreciate your time, rick green, editor and vice president at "the des moines register." thanks, rick. >> you bet, thank you.

the lunar probes are expected to reach their destination this new year's weekend and we've got a preview. >> pressure ey you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪

twin spacecraft launched in september are right on target. the lunar probes are expected to enter orbit over the new year's weekend. they will arrive 24 hours apart and reynolds wolf has details on nasa's latest mission to the

moon. >> this is amazing, this is the holy grail of lunar missions. the way this is going to come together is fascinating. we'll get things started by explaining exactly what grail happens to be. grail is the gravity recovery and interior laboratory, that's what g.r.a.i.l. stands for. it's the two probes and they're going to measure the changes in the moon's gravity. it's also an attempt to determine what is below the moon's surface. we have a good idea what's going on. you remember the mixes in the '60s and '70s going to the moon. this gives you a little bit more what's happening below the surface and help scientists find out why the dark side of the moon is more rugged. many scientists believe the real reason why the far side of the moon was much more rugged was because it was almost like a shield if you will, kind of protecting the rest of the earth and kind of being a buffer zone for a lot of space rocks,

asteroi asteroids, of course instead of hitting the earth it would hit the moon instead. the amazing thing we see a team of two probes that left earth take about three days to make the journey from earth, rather three months from the earth to the moon and when you think about the apollo missions that took only three days. this took three months, two probes are going to move around the earth, get all kinds of information, it will send it back down to earth and give us a better idea of what's happening. exactly what they're going to find? the fun part we don't know at this time. hopefully we'll get information. they're going to be flying up there and right over the moon, working together, starting this weekend, so it's going to be really interesting to see what happens over the next several days, weeks, months. the bevy of information we'll get from this incredible mission. there you go. >> we look forward to hearing about it. thank you. you've been sounding off on our talkback question. pundits coming out with their list of products they think will disappear next year, earthly concerns. we're asking what extinct products are you nostalgic for?

patrick says i miss honey nut cornflakes and cucumber dill salad dressing. i can't find it. more of your responses just moments away. by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪

when we heard predictions by wall street that kellogg's corn pop also disappear from america's breakfast table next year, we wanted to run to the cafeteria to grab a box or two. no more corn pops? for our talk back question, we

asked what products that are no longer around are you nostalgic for? paul says i miss tangy taffy, which was better than laffy taffy. ashley writes, i miss real food on airplanes. now you'll be lucky if you get a handful of peanuts. ron misses hydrox cookies, they're much better than oreos. they came back temporarily a couple of years ago but disappeared. mark is mosstal jik for the record album and lp artwork, dropping the needle on the record and hearing that warm analog sound. also nostalgic for browsing record stores, tower in particular. michael says i miss life before facebook. was there life before facebook? there are of course many advantages to networking but it has taken away some of the effort as far as making an effort to connect without making a phone call. keep the conversation going at

facebook.com/suzannecnn. it is hard to turn on the television in iowa without seeing a political attack ad. the candidates are battling it out over the air waves just days before the iowa caucuses. joe johns looks at who is spending the most and who is getting left out in the ad wars. >> reporter: campaign ads have flooded iowa air waves. >> it was late started but the campaigns and outside groups are heavily engaged at the highest levels now. >> reporter: the rick perry campaign has spent a fortune on ads, almost $2 million. perry tried to tell his own story while reaching out to social conservative and evangelical voters and he's attacked ron paul, newt gingrich, michele bachmann and rick santorum in the same ad. >> 63 years in congress leaving us with debt, earmarks and bailouts. >> reporter: a super political

action committee called make us great again not connected to perry but buys ads for his benefit kicked in another $1.4 million in ad buys. mitt romney has a similar story. his campaign has spent three-quarters of a million-dollar on ads like the one featuring his wife, ann. >> i've been married for the same woman for 25 -- excuse me, i get in trouble, to the same woman for 42 years. >> reporter: it's kicked over 1 million bucks to run spots against gingrich, latest ad suggesting president obama would like to run against the former speaker in the general election because gingrich has baggage. >> why is this man smiling? because his plan is working. brutally attack mitt romney and hope newt gingrich is his opponent. >> reporter: in third place is the campaign of ron paul who polls show is tied for the lead in the caucuses. he's run five ads in iowa since the end of november. >> ron paul, do it. >> reporter: the paul campaign was the first to run an attack

ad this cycle, zinging gingrich for his position switches. >> and the real question of serious, seriousness. >> reporter: one of the candidates who has not been able to compete is gingrich, who says his fate in the polls is because he's getting hammered on tv. he has tried to claim the high ground but the fact is, he hasn't had the money to play dirty in the tv ad wars. >> newt gingrich wasn't able to raise money and combine his rise in the polls with a rise in fund-raising to be able to pay for political advertising and a ground game in iowa. it's not very complicated. you know, usually the main reason why someone's not airing political advertising is they don't have enough money to air political advertising. >> reporter: now the newt gingrich super pac, winning our future, said it's going up to a television ad of its own, starting through wednesday, running through january 2nd, a clever pushback against mitt romney calling on conservatives

not to let the liberal establishment pick the republican romney. joesons, cnn, des moines, iowa. >> tune in next week for the country's first vote in the presidential race, "america's choice 2012" live coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night, january 3rd, at 7:00 eastern right here. 2011 was a tragic year for the japanese people. we take a look back at one of the biggest stories of the year, japan's killer tsunami. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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the powerful earthquake which shook japan in march was a defining moment of 2011. it triggered one of the worst tsunamis in years, killing more than 15,000 people. here are the memories of the cnn reporters who covered it. on march 11th, a 9.0 earthquake struck about 130 kilometers east of sendai, japan. >> the magnitude of japan's earthquake was never anticipated.

>> reporter: the worst was yet to come. the powerful quake had triggered a massive tsunami. the waves nearly ten meters high, traveling as fast as a jetliner. it ravaged the country's entire northeastern coast, taking the lives of more than 15,000 people. >> translator: i thought japan would disappear. i thought japan would disappear underwater. i have no idea what i will do next or where i will go. >> we were at an evacuation center, and this was a very, very sad moment, when a father pulled up in his car, and seated

in the passenger seats reclined was his 16-year-old son. he had brought the body of his 16-year-old son to the middle school so his friends could say farewell. he was trying to create that order of the funeral in japan for his friends. >> reporter: and then on top of natural disaster, a manmade one, looming nuclear crisis. when you talk about a triple whammy, an earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear crisis, that is extraordinary. that's unprecedented. there was a fear that if anyone was inside that 20 kilometer zone, they could die. we drove up to the 20 kilometer zone, expecting to be turned away, but we actually found that the radiation levels being measured there were not as high as they were in some other parts 20, 30 kilet